Sales Is Not For Everyone

If you are lazy, you are not going to do very well at sales. It is an activity-based endeavor, and nothing moves unless you move first.

Selling is very difficult for people who lack the discipline to do what is necessary without being told or managed. In a lot of roles, you will have people who are happy to tell you what to do every day and hover over your shoulder while you work. In sales, the lack of discipline will cost you your job.

You do not need to be an extrovert to do well in sales, but you better like people, and you better be good at creating and developing relationships. If you put your headphones in to avoid the risk of the person next to you engaging you in a conversation, sales isn’t going to be easy. If you don’t have an easy time talking to other people, you’ll find selling to be difficult—since that’s all we do!

If you are conflict averse, or if you have trouble being challenged by other people, man, oh man, is selling going to be tough. If you don’t have enough combativeness to engage with people who challenge you in a playful, collaborative, non-challenging way, you will struggle dealing with executives who will push you to see what you are made of and how strongly you believe what you say.

If you feel bad about yourself when people tell you no, then you are not going to like sales at all.

If business isn’t your thing, then B2B sales isn’t going to be your thing. If you aren’t interested in how business works, selling is going to be a struggle. You need the concepts and vocabulary of business to talk to clients and prospects.

Your unwillingness to invest in yourself will be the lid on your success, your growth, and your development as a sales professional. Sales is one of those professions where your goals are increased from year to year, making it next to impossible for you to be allowed to have the same year over and over again.

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